marrying us citizen

[ritumberto]

i am on h1, applied for GC via company, and marrying us citizen.

1. upon marriage, can i switch employers? if yes how quick is this process

2. if no to above answer, husband lives in another state, how can i relocate and be in legal standing and join him in another state?

3. if i get my ead based on my company, can i switch jobs to state my husband in?

i do not want to be left away from hubbie for a long while, read that its a 6 month process and he lives on east coast

 

[boatbod]

In order to move companies you need an EAD, and since you presumably plan on leaving your current employer, it sounds like you need that EAD to be against a family-based GC.

If you take EAD based on your employment-based GC, you will have issues (later) of not working for the sponsoring employer. That would be bad...

 

[ritumberto]

In order to move companies you need an EAD, and since you presumably plan on leaving your current employer, it sounds like you need that EAD to be against a family-based GC.

If you take EAD based on your employment-based GC, you will have issues (later) of not working for the sponsoring employer. That would be bad...

I take it marriage based EAD take a while in the east coast, so what would my option be if i leave my current employer and relocate to east coast. what visa would i be on as i assume my current employer will stop processing on all my current visa etc.

 

[austriacus]

An EAD based on a filed immediate relative AOS application is issued within 90 days from your submission of all "initial evidence," often sooner (between 2nd and 3rd month). However, as soon as you have your receipt notice for the AOS (after about 2 wks), my understanding is you don't have to work for your current employer anymore to be in status (you have a pending status change), but you couldn't work for another one either until you receive the EAD. Although not advisable, it is also possible for you to simply quit and move to your husband and file for marriage based AOS; you would be out of status, but my understanding is that this will be forgiven when filing based on a US citizen spouse.

Another important consideration is that USCIS would prefer if you lived with your husband for the marriage based AOS (not required, but it makes the burden of proof easier).